Chapter 7

"My sister and I have finally decided to keep the estate, as it's part of our history, even if I doubt either one of us will ever live there unless we move to the area," Griffen finally told Deanne one day a few weeks after she had gone to see her parents.

All in all, it had been a couple of months since Deanne had met Griffen and his sister and she fell more in love with her mate the more time they spent together, but that's the way it was supposed to be, Deanne knew. Griffen had seemed to lose his reservations about dating her, a possible complication and she was happy to see it.

"Even if you don't live there, you'll have to hire a staff to maintain the garden and the house. Also, you and your sister will eventually have children and those children might move into the area once they are adults and it would be nice to already have somewhere to live without having to worry about paying for an apartment or house," said Deanne. "Prices on everything have gone up considerably over the last hundred years alone, and if any of your future children do decide to move to where they can live at the estate then they won't have to worry about paying for somewhere to live."

"They will have to worry about taxes on the property, though," Griffen said, "and yes, I know those taxes won't be that much compared to paying a monthly rent on an apartment or buying a house."

"At least your uncle left the estate in good shape financially. There's plenty of money in the coffers to take care of those taxes or for any repairs on the house and also for hiring staff to look after the place," Deanne said.

"True enough," Griffen admitted.

"It might be a bit of a pain to do all that hiring of staff, but once you do, you don't have to worry about it unless somebody wants to quit. I'm sure that you and your sister will leave the running of the estate to whoever you hire, though you'll have to keep your eye on them to make sure that they're doing their jobs and not up to anything nefarious."

"And the staff can handle getting a repairman to fix whatever is broken if necessary," Griffen said liking the idea. "Hopefully, Mira and I can find somebody we can trust to run the estate efficiently since I doubt we'll be there very often."

"And I can start planning the garden so long as you don't care how I arrange things once the overgrown foliage has been cleared out," Deanne said. "It's clear to me that the garden hasn't been tended in several years and that plants have been left to grow without anyone bothering to trim them back. All someone did was keep the driveway clear for deliveries and for the housekeeper to be able to run errands. It was practically a jungle."

Griffen watched Deanne's face as she spoke and saw her lightning quick pained expression, as she talked about how the garden at the estate was nothing but an untamed jungle.

It was clear to him that Deanne really cared about growing things, which is probably why she had opened her own business that sold everything needed for gardening. The gardening emporium sold everything from any kind of plant, fruit and vegetables, different kinds of potting soil spades, gardening, gloves, and everything else required.

That Deanne Rossi had such compassion for growing things probably meant she had compassion for humans as well, though Griffen was well aware that there was no guarantee that Deanne cared about people as much as she did plants outside of her own family.

It could be that Deanne used plants to avoid interacting with too many people as plants couldn't judge you like humans could. Still, Deanne had interacted with him and his sister easily enough, and hadn't seemed uncomfortable in the least, which probably meant that she had no trouble interacting with anyone.

"You really like growing things don't you?" Griffen asked Deanne. "You seem to really care about plants and seem to love taking care of them like a mother would."

"I take it you find that strange," Deanne asked Griffen

"Not really, it shows you have compassion, even for plants, which probably means you have compassion for people as well," Griffen said.

"That's one way to look at it," Deanne told Griffen with a smile. "I've always had a very green thumb, which is the reason I went into the profession I did once I got my degree in horticulture. It is as if I understand plants the way that few people do. It's as if they have feelings and emotions. You take care of plants and they'll take care of you, feed you doing lean times and let you relax within the shade they produce with overhanging branches and large leaves. I've taken a nap in the shade a tree provides more than once and I know I'll do so in the future."

"I saw the brief pained looked that crossed your face as you talked about the garden at the Wilton estate," Griffen said. "It's as if it literally pained you that it was in such bad shape."

"It did pain me, as I thought about what kind of condition the garden was in and it was as if the plants were crying out for someone to care, for someone to nurture, to tend them. I know very well how strange that sounds, which is why I don't usually talk about it to other people except my own family and usually it's just my parents," Deanne tried to explain. "I wouldn't want people to think I was crazy you know or at least weird."

"I don't think you're weird. I just think you have empathy for all living things, not just plants," Griffen offered. "That kind of empathy is rare in this world Dea."

Deanne said nothing simply looked at her mate with an odd expression.

"I'm sure Mira won't care how you design the garden now that we've decided to keep the estate," Griffen said.

"I'm glad you both did decide to keep it, as technically, it's your heritage, even if you never knew your Great-Uncle Claud, never knew that branch of your family existed."

"No, we didn't and it was a surprise, a shock really," Griffen admitted. "However, both Mira and I are well aware that family loses contact all the time for one reason or another even in this century. It's quite possible that one of our distant ancestors, a cousin or a nephew married someone the main branch of my family didn't approve of and that made them disown that part of the family. Really, that's just one possibility out of several hundred at least."

"True, that might be what happened," Deanne agreed. "You'll likely never know the reason such a split in the family occurred. It could simply be that at one point in time, communicating long distances was nearly impossible, and so they simply lost contact with each other because of that. You have to remember that many centuries ago there were no vidphones, not even a telegraph or radios, so it was easy to lose contact. Even if you were literate and wrote letters, there's no guarantees that they ever reached their destination for one reason or another including the weather."

"It doesn't really matter after all this time, but at least we won't have any relatives that want a portion of our inheritance, because they feel like they deserve it, aswe are apparently the only ones that the lawyers could find," Griffen said.

"What about your parents, though your mother or your father as one of them must be related to your now dead great uncle in order for you to inherit," Deanne suggested.

"It was through our mother and she died several years ago, so we really are the only ones left that could have possibly inherited," Griffen explained.

"Well, I'm only sorry I'll never get to meet your mother," Deanne said.

"So are both your parents still alive?" Griffen asked and Deanne nodded.

"Yes, they are not going to shuffle off the mortal coil anytime soon," Deanne answered. "They're both still healthy as horses and so are my godparents."

Deanne didn't bother to tell Griffen that her parents and godparents and in fact, her entire family were immortal so couldn't die by any ordinary means.

"I went up to visit them a few weeks ago just to catch up on the news and since I got to eat one of my mother's fantastic desserts it was hardly a wasted trip for that reason alone," said Deanne.

"That must've been some dessert," Griffen commented.

"Trust me, it was," Deanne smiled. "My mother is a professional baker and owns her own bakery. Desserts after dinner were normal when I was growing up. This was something new that she was testing out on my father before she likely will serve it at her bakery. I got some since I arrived as my dad was eating his portion. I didn't even have to ask, as mom knows I'm always willing to be her guinea pig for anything she creates as they are always spectacular and usually contain chocolate. Real chocolate, the expensive kind, not the fake kind that is so weak it barely tastes like chocolate at all."

"I would love to visit her bakery and get me something," Griffen said, "and I'm sure Mira would as well as she loves chocolate."

"I wish you could, but you'd have to go to Oklahoma where they live," Deanne said. "I'm sure you'll meet them eventually and if you do, my mother always has one of her desserts ready for dinner and a lot of times lunch. If you ever do get a taste one of her desserts you're in for a treat and you'll be addicted right off the bat."

"There are far worse things to be addicted to then sweets," Griffen suggested and Deanne nodded in total agreement.

"Yes, there are, like drugs or even alcohol if you drink to excess like some people do," Deanne said. "In any case, I'll draw up some plans for the garden at the estate and get yours and Mira's approval as to what kind of flowers and other plants you want. It's going to be quite the project and I'm looking forward to it."

"Yet you were reluctant to even take a tour of it," Griffen teased her, and Deanne smiled at him.

"It's just not the kind thing I usually do," Deanne tried to explain. "I'm certainly busy enough with my business that I don't need the extra work, as really I'm not a planner of gardens other than my own. Sure, I got my degree in horticulture and I'm not saying I'm not capable, just that it's not what I do as a profession."

"You might want to consider taking it up as a profession, because from what I saw of your front garden when I've picked you up at your house on several occasions is gorgeous," Griffen complimented her.

"Thank you," Deanne blushed at the compliment from her mate. "Having a garden was the reason I bought a house instead of renting an apartment or buying a condo. I know most unmarried people live in condos or apartments unless they inherit a house from their parents or another one of their family, but since I like to garden and be outside so much, I didn't go that route. The garden in both the front and back isn't as big as I would like, but is adequate."

"The one at the estate is humongous," Griffen said and Deanne nodded.

"Yes, but you have to expect it with that kind of a estate," Deanne said. "There are more such estates mostly in Europe, England, France, Italy and Spain, estates that have been passed down in certain families for generations. I was kind of surprised at such a place existed here in Maine."

"Well, our family is originally English, I know that much," Griffen offered.

"I had figured that out already as Wilton is also an English surname. It's quite possible you have relatives over there that you know nothing about just like you knew nothing about your great uncle," Deanne suggested.

"I suppose it's possible," Griffen admitted, "but Mira and I have enough to deal with right now, so we don't need to worry about possible relatives over in England."

"Yeah, you do have enough to deal with. I was just thinking that if you wanted to see if you do have relatives in that part of the world sometime, I'd be happy to go with you or you're welcome to go by yourself," Deanne said.

"We can worry about that later," Griffen said.

Deanne dropped the subject and the two chatted for awhile before Griffen took his leave and Deanne promised to get started on those plans for the estate garden.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~

Months later

"My parents would like to meet you," Deanne told Griffen. "We've been dating for long enough now that we know our relationship is solid."

"A relationship you blackmailed me into," Griffen told her teasingly.

It was clear that Griffen wasn't really serious with his words he was just reminding her how she had bribed him into that first date. Griffen had enjoyed himself so much that first time that he and Deanne had continued to date over the preceding months.

"I didn't really blackmail you," Deanne protested laughingly at Griffen's teasing. "I did what I did, because I could tell you were the type that would refuse to date someone that was working for you. I could not have taken the job and recommended several people for you and your sister to hire, but the two of you insisted it had to be me, because Archie told you I was the best. I won't deny I'm good, but I'm hardly the best, so Archie was drastically overstating things."

"That may be, but you've certainly given Mira some ideas of what you want the garden to be, ideas she really likes by the way. You gave her ideas for the garden even before we decided we were going to keep the estate and she can't wait to see those ideas take form," Griffen said. "If anything, Mira appreciated your creativity and your ability to think outside the box, which not many people seem capable of in this century."

"It's true that people have gotten intellectually lazy," Deanne said. "Still, there are people out there that aren't, the trouble is finding them."

"And when you do, you usually have to pay them much more than you do those that don't think outside the lines," Griffen said.

"You have to pay for their creativity," Deanne shrugged. "If you don't want to pay for genius, then you deserve what you get, what you paid for and that's ordinary. So what do you think about going up to Oklahoma and meeting my parents?" asked Deanne since they had gotten off track.

"I don't know what I think," Griffen admitted. "On the one hand, I wouldn't mind meeting them, but on the other, we'll be going up there as a couple and a lot of parents claim that this girl or this guy isn't good enough for their precious darling, and then wants their kid to break up with their significant other. Believe me, when I say I've encountered more of that kind of thing then I cared to deal with, as it was usually a friend of mine that it happened to."

"So you're afraid that my parents won't think you're good enough for me and want me to break up with you?" Deanne asked understanding Griffen's fears, but knew that they were groundless. Yes, what Griffen suggested did happen quite a lot actually, but her parents were very different in that regard, though there was a reason they were. That reason however, was not something that Griffen was yet aware of.

"That's the gist of it," Griffen admitted sheepishly.

"I understand your fears, but that's not going to happen," Deanne told him firmly. "Believe me, it is not. I have mentioned you quite a bit over the link and when I went out to visit so they are well aware you have played a significant role in my life recently. They already love you as a son, even if they have yet to meet you. They love you because I do. My parents are unlike most others out there. They're very accepting and so long as they're sure you love me, then, they'll have no problems accepting you into the family."

"If you say so," Griffen said sounding uncertain.

"You'll see," Deanne told him with smile so bright that it lit the room.

"Oh, by the way, I meant to mention that Mira is very pleased with how the garden is coming along, and she told me that you're going earn the bonus she offered you once it is completed," Griffen told her.

Deanne and the twins had had several conversations about the garden, and Deanne had shown them the plans she had drawn up. Mira had been very interested as she looked over the plans and had been offered the bonus once garden was completed.

Deanne had suggested a combination of flowers and vegetables. A section in one part of the garden would be set aside for vegetables. She had even suggested a few fruit bushes that did well with the Maine weather.

She suggested for the vegetable part of the garden that rutabaga, lettuce, snap peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers as well as zucchini, squash and eggplant be planted. Of course, someone would have to tend the garden and also harvest the vegetables, when they were in season, but a droid could be programmed for the task.

"I'm glad she's happy with my plans for the garden," said Deanne. "I wasn't really sure about a section for vegetables, since neither one of you plan on living there, but still I figured it would come in useful for the servants so they won't have to shop for those vegetables we grow in the garden."

"It will also save money if we grow our own vegetables," Griffen suggested.

"Money isn't a really concern for you though thanks to your inheritance, but still, there's no harm in saving, what you can whether or not you have plenty," Deanne said.

"I'm still getting used to the fact that Mira and I will never again have to worry about money," Griffen told Deanne, who nodded understanding completely. "It wasn't even that we both don't have good jobs, Mira in particular, since realtors can make large commissions, but now both of us can quit our jobs if we want to. Mira can start up her own real estate agency, something she's been wanting to do for years, once we have the Wilton Estate sorted out."

"Believe me, I understand. I don't blame you for still feeling overwhelmed about having so much money suddenly," Deanne said. "At least you and Mira haven't done what a lot of people do when they get a sudden windfall and I think that shows great maturity on your part."

"Neither Mira, I could waste millions of dollars all in one fell swoop," Griffen chuckled.

"But believe me a lot of people could and do," Deanne told him. "They never think about the future, just about their immediate desires and when they finally come to their senses, it's too late they can't return whatever it is."

"Well, that doesn't sound sensible, though I do understand about the urge to spend the money right away. I'm sure some people feel it will disappear like a dream if they don't go ahead and spend it instead of saving it," Griffen said. "That doesn't mean though that you go ahead and do it."

"To many people are often not sensible when it comes to having extra money," Deanne told him and Griffen nodded in agreement as this was something he knew very well.

"That's true," Griffen said.

"I'm glad Mira is so happy with the way the garden is coming along and neither one of you needs to pay me a bonus because I don't need the extra money," Deanne said.

"You might not think you deserve a bonus, because you already have plenty of money, but that doesn't mean that you aren't going to get a bonus so you might as well suck it up. Excellent work deserves to be rewarded. You're too modest about your skill for your own good," Griffen told her cheerfully before he and Deanne kissed and parted ways.

Deanne let a rather goofy smile on her face appear once Griffen had left.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~